Will Delhi Metro Model Live Up To Expectations?

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New Delhi: : Infrastructure facilities and the systems put in place to run them are often used for moulding other systems in the pipeline. The Delhi Metro railway system will provide one such model.

The trial runs have begun and the Cabinet has cleared an Ordinance to operationalise part of its first corridor in December. This is an advancement over other rail-based mass rapid transport systems (MRTS) in the country, said urban development minister Ananth Kumar last week at a press conference in New Delhi.

He benchmarked the Delhi Metro with Mumbai’s suburban rail services and the Kolkata Metro. The Railways run both these services. The reason for Mr Kumar regarding Delhi Metro as an improvement over the two was that the project had been executed and will be operated by a special purpose vehicle called the Delhi Metro Rail Corpora-tion (DMRC), which has equal participation from the Centre as well as the state. This will ensure that it is run as a commercial organisation with a team of professionals heading it, he said.

While the Mumbai system is run under the Railway Act and is widely regarded as a drain on rail finances, the Kolkata metro is governed by a separate Act. The Metro Railways (Operation and Maintenance) Ordinance, which is to be replaced by a Bill to be introduced in Parliament in the ensuing session, spells out functions of the metro railway administration; in this case it being DMRC. Mr Kumar said his government was keen on having such systems in 35 other cities with more than one million population. “The ordinance is expandable,” he said when asked by FE whether it would be feasible for the Centre to administer systems in all such cities.

Senior officials say that initially the urban development ministry, through this Ordinance, wanted to have a law in place for all Metro systems likely to come up in the country. But on legal grounds cited by the Railway Board, this was made applicable only to the Delhi Metro. This is why the official press note on the day of the Cabinet clearance called it a Metro Railways Ordinance, whereas the minister referred to it as the Delhi Metro Railway Ordinance two days later.